Cameras are sometimes water resistant, at best, and most can never be submerged in water without severe dammage to the camera. The Contour™ HD and GPS models of video cameras, as manufactured by Contour, Inc. of Seattle, Wash., are lightweight and specially designed for outdoor uses. However, these cameras are not designed for underwater use. There is a need for a retrofit camera casing or housing designed to enable use of the Contour camera for underwater use by a hobbyist scuba diver or snorkeler. Such a water-proof camera enclosure or case, would need to provide a user with manual control of the camera's multiple functions, underwater. Beyond the simple pressing of a button to activate a digital or mechanical power switch of the camera, other user actuated controls are required for acceptable, professional quality photos in underwater environments. Focus, speed, aperture settings and film advancement are needed adjustments. Modern, microprocessor controlled cameras are able to calculate many of these setting with adequate results without direct control by the user. However, record and stop recording remains a setting that requires user input. The present invention provides a control system integrated into an underwater camera housing specifically for the widely used Contour type camera, providing a direct user interfaces through the water-tight camera housing. The following is a disclosure of the present invention that will be understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Reference characters included in the above drawings indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, as discussed herein. The description herein illustrates one preferred embodiment of the invention, in one form, and the description herein is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner. It should be understood that the above listed figures are not necessarily to scale and that the embodiments are sometimes illustrated by fragmentary views, graphic symbols, diagrammatic or schematic representations, and phantom lines. Details that are not necessary for an understanding of the present invention by one skilled in the technology of the invention, or render other details difficult to perceive, may have been omitted.